Differences in Education summary cards

Class differences in achievement - External factor

Middle-class pupils tend to achieve more than working-class pupils.

Some explanations focus on external factors outside school. These include (1) cultural deprivation - working class pupils are seen as lacking the right attitudes, values language and knowledge for educational success (e.g. they lack deferred gratification.)

(2) Material deprivation means working-class children are more likely to have poorer diets, housing and health and parents who are less likely to be able to meet the hidden costs of schooling.

The middle-class have more (3) cultural capital. They are better placed to take advantage of the choices offered in a marketised education system.

Class differences in achievement - Internal factor

some explanations of class differences in achievement focus on internal factors within the school and education system.

Interactionists argue that schools actively create inequality through (1)labelling and the self-fulfilling prophecy, (2) streaming and the polarisation and (3) pro-school and anti-school subcultures.

(4) Marketisation and selection policies increase streaming within schools and inequalities between schools through processes such as educational triage and cream-skimming, and this disadvantages working-class pupils.

Gender differences in achievement - External facto

Girls do better than boys at all stages of education. Some explanations focus on external factors outside the education system - (1) changes in the family, (2) more employment opportunities for women, (3) the impact of feminist ideas and changing girls' ambitions.

Globalisation + decline of traditional men's jobs - Since 1908's: decline in manafacturing indisutry to countries like China. Mitsos + Browne - led to 'identity crisis' for men. Little prospect of a job. A02 - decline has been in WC jobs, filled by those with little qualifications anyway

Feminisation of edu. - Sewell - Schools do not nurture masculine traits i.e. competitiveness/leadership. / Celebrate girls qualities i.e. attentiveness and methodical working. Argues some coursework should be replaced by a final exam.

Shortage of male primary school teachers - DfES men only 16% of primary school teachers. Lack of a strong +ve male role model. 42% of boys work harder w/ a male teacher A02 -Myhill + Jones- 13-15 year olds felt male teachers treated boys more harshly

'Laddish' subcultures - Epstein - WC. harassed, labelled as sissies and subject to homophobia if they're seen to be 'swots': WC culture places high emphasis on manual work and toughness and so reject schoolwork.